Wildlife in Vattnafalten
Mammals
Mammals while rare still make up some important wildlife in the Vattnafalten, due to the shallow and hot waters have Cetaceans been unable to establish themselves and the larger niches both of predators and of herbivores are almost universally filled by either reptiles or fish. However some noteworthy exceptions exist in the case of southern walruses that have taken up a position of large bottom feeder that feeds on various shellfish, crustaceans, and burrowing fishes. They are on average much thinner and slightly faster than the walruses of Scandera proper and they tend to make their homes near the countless small islands, rocks, and sandbanks that dots Vattnafalten. However one species in particularly, the southern dwarf walrus have been known to develop itself for life in the thick Korshifi forests that spring up around the sea.
All in all are three species understood to exist; The southern walrus, The Kingly Walrus or High Walrus, and the Dwarf walrus. When one talk about walruses in Vattnafalten is the southern walrus the most commonly imagined one, looking very similar to it's northern counterpart but much slimmer in build, almost lacking the blubber of it's northern cousins entirely.
The Walrus kings are much more similar to their northern cousins but reaching almost titanic proportions and rely almost entirely on their bulk to fend off predators, these large mammals are known to barely ever leave the water and prefer to stay at least partially submerged at all times. Their huge tusks and massive size have also earned them the name "The mammoths of the Sea". That is not the only thing they share with the land mammoths of the north, while not being maneaters as some species they share the waters with are the bulls well known to be quite aggressive during mating season and can easily attack boats which can be a severe dangers to sailors. However despite that does rumours abound of them eating up small children that swim too close persist, however they lack much evidence.
While as stated they don't eat people are they well documented in folklore to be maneters and tyrants, especially "the tale of Ishiashi" records such an instance and tells a tale of a young lad named Ishiashi are selected to be a dinner for just such a beast. He first convinces the walrus to first feed him as that would fatten him up and give him better taste but then challenges the beast to an eating contest. The Walrus agree thinking not high of the chances of a young boy. However while the walrus fattens himself on crabs, lobsters, and shrimp does Ishiashi discreetly pour his food into a bag he has hidden under his clothes. When the walrus say that he cannot eat more do Ishiashi suggest that he merely cut his stomach up and cuts up his own bag under his clothes from which all the shellfish spills out of. The walrus convinced this works does the same and perishes to his injuries.
Lastly are there the dwarf Walrus that is much more serpentine in it's build and much smaller than it's two cousins, designed for quick movement and agile turning abilities is this animal generally seen as a beloved trickster in most southern folklore and hurting them is very often considered a taboo if not outright illegal in most southern realms. Despite that however are they quite rare as they are confined to their forest habitats.
All groups have been known to live in herds, and rely on collective protection from larger predators. However herds varies in size with truly massive ones being common with the southern walrus while the kingly walrus and the dwarf walrus both being known to consist of very small groups of animals, often only a single bull and a few females in the case of the kingly walrus while the dwarf walrus instead lives in smaller herds of several mating pairs.
Reptilians
Reptiles are the true masters of Vattnafalten, while not as large as some of the sea whales of the north and some ocean going sea reptiles can some truly dangerous predatory beasts be found here. Almost every niche in the large meadows are either influenced or held by the reptiles of the oceans and the large reptiles that can be found on the islands that dots the calm and shallow waters. From predatory mega fauna in the form of serpent whales to the smallest swimming sea reptiles and predatory sea serpents that the oceans are famous for can these diverse animals fill almost every role an animal can fill and only the fish of the ocean can truly challenge them for pure numbers but even the largest shark falls short of the predatory serpent whales and even some kinds of sea serpents are known to take out sharks at times.
Turtles
A large number of turtles inhabits not only the islands around Vattnafalten but the seas themselves are also the home of numerous kind of turtles ranging from both herbivores and predatory species. Especially Större vattnafalts skaldpaddan, or the greater vattnafalt turtle is an semi-aquatic salt water snapping turtle known as a very dangerous ambush predator, able to crush the bones of even serpent whales and due to being a highly aggressively territorial species is it known to be quite dangerous for humans and is one of the species that kills the most humans each year in the federation. They are especially known for their long necks and powerful jaws able to hunt in a manner similar to some long necked sea reptiles but they are however still known to be bound to the shallower parts of the region as they cannot swim. While they cannot swim and have a negative buoyancy are they able to transverse the patches of seaweed fields by lunging from the sea bottom with their powerful legs and their impressive lung capacity means that they can be submerged for long periods of time allowing the turtle to walk at the bottom of the sea between islands.
However not all species of turtles are quite as aggressive as the större havsköldpaddan, or the greater sea turtle is a huge species of turtles that also make their home in the region. While being one of the larger species and a herbivorous one can they still withdraw to land and provide quite a fearsome bite that keeps even the larger species of serpent whales at bay. Curious to note however is that these turtles are often followed by not only large groups of fish that can keep the large turtle clean but they are also often followed by a species of sea serpents named "vassal orm" or "vasal serpent" that often follows their liege lords around, while predatory are they also known to leave the fish that is beneficial to it's turtle alone and the species have instead specialised in hunting various kinds of opportunistic predator fish and sea reptiles that while not a lethal threat to the turtle can still cause injury by attacking it's exposed gaps in it's shield that are too large to defend against smaller predators like that.
Beyond these two giants of the sea are the Korshifi forests also the home of several sea turtles as well as predatory snapping turtles that serves as ambush predators. However like most of their kind are these turtles omnivores and they are just as easy to feed on Korshifi fruit as they are to feed on the various kinds of fish, lizards, snakes, and arthropods that make their home in the lush ocean forests.
Sea Lizards
Sea Lizards is the most successful group of animals in Vattnafalten and bar maybe the largest macro predator niches that is held almost exclusively by the larger serpent whales have they filled almost every niche imaginable from small sea grass grazers to large fish predators. The group can be divided into two sub groups, langstrupar and ödlefiskar, long throats, and lizard fish respectively.
It is from the Lizard fish that the large Lizardwhale comes which is the largest species in Vattnafalten and is a large kelp grazer. Living a lonely experience does these massive leviathans of the sea swim around the deeper kelp forests and grazes. This makes it a very important keystone species of the biome as it keeps the large kelpforests from overtaking the large seagrass meadows that the region is known for.
Similarly while much smaller is the famous "Ödlevalros", "shakrai" or "lizard walrus" a common sight in the vattnafalten, living in large herds does these large animals often travel over the seafloor while grazing on the seagrass in a manner similar to Manatees. These species are very common prey animals for some of the larger predatory species of the region but has also become so important to especially the "imoshthaal" people, a small ethnic group generally considered as part of the wider izunthaal peoples. This humble ethnicity was never known for it's large empires nor for their great scholars and poets but they have instead been known to ply the waters of Vattnafalten with their smaller house crafts and fishing boats, not only living off fishing, snake hunting, and pearl diving but they are also known for their tendency to follow the Lizard walrus herds as a source of food. While this have never resulted in a domesticated breed of the lizard walruses are these animals still very important culturally and clans of the Imoshthaal are often centered around a wild herd of lizard walruses they cultivates. However not every clan has their own herd nor is every herd followed by a clan of Imoshthaal.
However competing with sharks and smaller serpent whales can one also find numerous small and midsized fish lizards that prey on fish and some of the larger ones have been known to turn into maneaters or even to attack boats but this is very rare and often the result of desperate or hurt individuals. This is not an universal though as very few of them are after prey that could be mistaken for a boat, instead have some of the smarter species of fish lizards developed a close relationship with humans by driving fish towards human nets. This practice is culturally honoured by both Scanderans and Izunthaal and all the other ethnic groups as "lizard tax" where it is expected that a portion of the harvest is to be immeditatly killed and thrown back to the waiting lizard fish. Breaking this tradition is almost universally regarded as a huge taboo culturally amongst most of the ethnic groups of the region, a practice almost universally adopted by Scanderans too. Similarly have it been reported that some of these midszied Lizard fish has been known to protect both human divers and human boats from Serpent whales and in return have they also been known to approach human boats and harbours to seek safety from serpent whales when hunted in return. Another cultural quirk in the region that is almost universally honoured and many a tale is told of olden warships going toe to toe with serpent whales to defend Lizard fish. The most famous Scanderan example is the told in the saga of Harald Sadersagel which tells of a conqueror king in the south that established his own realm in Vattnafalten that defended a flock of lizard fish from a particularly fearsome serpent whale in his personal war galley for four nights and days, sharing his food with the beasts as they held of the assault of the whale until he slew it with his lance. This act was part of what made him accepted as a king in the eyes of his conquered subjects.
Most famous amongst the sea lizards however must be the long necks, known also as "Tanish" or "langstrupar" in the zunthaal and Scanderan tongues, both the Zunthaal and the Scanderan words literally translating to long necks or long throats respectively and they are a fish predatory species known for their speed and agility, using their long necks to approach schools of fish before quickly accelerate and catching prey that way. These comes from the greatest "Hoch langstrupe" with is a leviathan that pry the waters fearing nothing but the greatest of the serpent whales to relatively small species the size of a mans forearm that have specialised for life either in the Korshifi forests or in the coral reefs, the smaller species are almost universally part of a more derived clade called "Svannackar" or "Swan necks" known for their surprising degree of mobility in their necks compared to their very stiff necked ancestors and cousins and have gained some fame for their swan like posture when they have surfaced. While most living on a fish are there also some species that have developed a taste for the Korshifi fruits that they use their long necks to reach and has as a result turned into mostly herbivores while other species have specialised on hunting crabs giving them thick grinding teeth and larger heads.
These beasts are seen as a bit more dangerous than their lizard fish cousins as the largest of them are known to also attack land living species by accelerating to quick speeds and then using their long necks to snap unsuspecting creatures in the shallow up before dragging them back into the ocean where they can be eaten. This have made them especially dangerous to humans as they are known to pull people out of boats as part of their hunting strategy. This makes at least the largest of the long necks the most common man eaters amongst the sea lizards.
Lizards
Several lizards make their home amongst Vattnafalten from mid sized semi-aquatic sea grass grazers and swimming fish predators to also smaller arboreal herbivores that lives in the Korshifi forests, amongst them are the most notable the clinging lizard that has evolved to feed on the very salt rich leaves of the Korshifi plants to the degree that the animal's hyper evolved liver and kidneys deals with the extreme salt intake they have to endure. However even amongst the island living animals of the region is nothing larger than the "fishing beast" or Zush'na kah in the solar tongue. These large beast are somewhat similar in build to old sauropods bar for their sprawling legs that betray their lizard heritage. Also their large necks are also somewhat dissimilar with large folds akin to those of a large cobra. They can often be found around islands or in shallow water where they need to fear no predator as only the larger serpent whales can hunt them. The shade that their long wide necks provide draws in schools of fish that uses shade to hide from predatory birds or pterosaurs. These schools of fish however are far from safe as the large lizard suddenly strike with its long curved neck, quickly snatching up it's prey. Despite their large size are these slow titans hardly a threat to humans as they are unlikely to actively hunt them. Though some cases of fatalities have been known either from self defence when humans have hunted them for sport or when people just get too close.
Serpent Whales
No other beast is as feared in Vattnafalten as the Serpent whales, or the Shato in the sun tongue, closest related to serpents are they still massive reptilian sea beasts more akin to whales or dolphins in shape having retrained their limbs compared to their limbless cousins. While some of them remain venomous are others relying more on pure savagery and size to take down prey. As predators do they hold a lot of niches from small pack hunters that competes with sea lizards and predatory fish are they in their largest roles the undisputed apex predators. These massive beasts are exiled to the deepest parts of the shallow seas and have been known to prey on even large ships. While the cold waters that surrounds vattnafalten forces them to stay in the seas ceding the open sea and the northern waters to the predatory whales of Scandera and various sea dragons, however their presence and their presence alone keeps both whale and dragon out of the southern waters.
Traditionally have the largest of the beasts been hunted for sport by royals in vattnafalten and to slay such a beast was considered a great honour and a mark of a great lord which have been keeping the sea lanes somewhat clear of the beasts, however despite that is even today common for smaller fishing boats to be taken down by the greatest of them and swimmers are well documented to be hunted by smaller pack whales. While not able to rack up the same numbers of kills as the aggressive turtles are there still even today common for people to die from venomous bites or swallowed hole by larger whales. While being reptiles are these species almost universally known to birth live young by keeping their eggs internally in the body and when hatched do the spawn simply swim out of their mother.
The largest of these beasts is the regal serpent whale or the high serpent whale, also known as the shan'shato amongst the sun realms, which is a rare sight and due to it's large size does these truly tremendous beasts mostly keep their distance from the shallower waters, however they are known to return in huge numbers around the beginning of the dry season to spawn and mate which is a truly fearsome spectacle. As most serpent whales are these beasts often countershaded, however rather than the traditional sandy beige and light grey are these often a dark black and light grey making them stick out a lot when they move back into the shallow seas.
The second largest and most common group of species in the shallower water is the smaller but no less dangerous sandwhale or ma'shato. It is a large beast that lives in small pods consisting of a few breeding pairs when adults however as smaller sub adults do they instead live in large sibling groups from the same spawning. These beasts are so named for their ability to beach themselves to get to prey and have very powerful flippers that they can move with. Meaning it is not unknown for unsuspecting prey in the shallow waters to suddenly find themselves with a large predator launching itself out of the water, biting heavily before withdrawing with their terrified prey back into the waters. Once back in open sea do they release their prey letting the bloodloss and it's venom deal with the wounded animal as it's large size is more than enough to fight off most other predators. Only the greater vattnafalt turtle is one beast that is known to be able to fend off such foes and confrontations between the two tends to go down to which one can get the prey into their prefered habitats and it is a truly desperate or large sandwhale that actively hunts the turtles but it is not unheard of.
The most dangerous serpent whale however is the small Ka'shato or shallow serpent whale which lives in large pods of up to 20 individuals. These pack hunting predators are known to opportunistically go after larger sea lizards, often dashing in before leaving venomous bites that eventually kill their prey. They are especially feared for being well documented man eaters that hunts humans as much as other prey. As a matter of fact are they the species most likely to cause death amongst humans due to being the ones commonly interacting with the same waters that humans often goes to. Their venom while deadly is however treatable and most villages have readily access to the anti-venom.
The long nosed serpent whale or the Ta'shato, literally nose serpent whale, is a collection of long snouted predators that is well documented to hunt fish, it is very quick and often lives solitary lives. It is one of the groups of species that lack any potent venom but is well known for it's fearsome teeth that is used to catch fish. As a large group of species are there however a lot of variation in colouration and exact specialisation.
The snout nosed serpent whale is another solitary hunter, a specialised group of predators that is mostly known for it's hunting of large crabs and turtles for this have they developed large impressive jaws able to crush both bones, shells, and carapace. There are also known examples that are known to be scavengers that often eats the parts of carcases that are left by other animals and often bones are things they are going for.
The parrot whale or the mao'shato is one of the most derived species of serpent whales are well documented for being some of the most venomous of the whales. They are also some of the most sexually dimorphous of all the whales with females while having colourful stripes on their flanks are mostly the same sandy beige and grey countershading as other species are the males well known for having very colourful coats and also large flowing textile like draperies that the males use for display, both to attract females but also to fend off rival males, these conflicts however tend to be very visual and very seldom ends in death.
Sea Serpents
Sea serpents are very diverse in the meadows, forests, and kelp forests of Vattnafalten, while often venomous are there some exceptions and the rare sea boa is a rare constrictive sea serpent and the largest species one can find. While numerous and very common are these species often rather small compared to most predatory reptiles that lives in Vattnafalten as the larger predatory niches are held by either sea lizards or serpent whales. Only the sea boa is an exception to this and it hunts most of the larger mammals, crabs, and even other sea reptiles. While it is on it's own not particularly dangerous to humans have it been known to attack some boats even if this is still a rare occurrence.
Far mire likely is it for deaths amongst humans to occur when unsuspecting divers and swimmers accidentally swim too close to one of the numerous venomous species of serpents that lives in the vattnafalt and be bitten by the cornered snake that lashes out in panic or stressed serpents accidentally caught by fishers to bite their unwitting captors resulting in fatal injuries.
The serpents of Vattnafalt is very important culturally to the people around the sea as they are very commonly eaten and specialised serpent spears exists for hunting them.
Birds
Birds contribute a lot to the ecology of the vattnafalt, while very rarely hunted in their own right are there several species of gulls, swimming parrots, and flightless parrots that all are known hunters of fish and smaller sea reptiles. However despite being able to flee back to the shore are these flying creatures also hunted by several species of predatory fish and predatory sea reptiles, snapping turtles and crustaceans.
Furthermore are these creatures also hunted by other predatory parrots, eagles, falcons and other birds of prey and land based reptiles.
Thinking races
While very debated amongst scholars in the federation are mermaids known to inhabit vattnafalten, they are aggressive creatures known to prey on men but they can also be a great boon, fishermen have often found it worthwhile to offer fish in return for pearls that the mermaids pick up from the bottom of the sea. However if that is a true case of trade like sentient people would conduct it or a learnt behaviour like how some species of sea reptiles are known to shadow larger ships as protection from larger predators or how some cases of apes are known to learn how to handle primitive tools.
They are known to live in small groups often segregated by gender and ruled by a patriarch or matriarch. At mating season do women often come ashore to sing in the hope of attracting a mate while the men fight amongst themselves and the females pick the victors for mating.
However while it is known that they are able to interbreed with humans and several other land species, with the child always taking the same species as the father. This have in ages past resulted in the practice of mermaid marriage where a mermaid mating ceremony was infiltrated by large heroes to father a child as children born of such unions were often considered to be people of great destiny. Would a children of such unions be born is it well documented that the mother take the child to the first humans they can find before vanishing again. However with more and more Scanderan influence in the region have the practice decreased a lot as it has been frowned upon by Scanderans. That is not to said that it did not make it's way north as several noble houses claims their origin in such unions and even up north are the children of such unions often considered as closer to the spirits and revered even if the act that produced them is highly frowned upon.
However the co-operation between groups of the mermaids still hints of some intelligence and primitive tool use have been reported which continue to fuel the debate if they are intelligent or not. Add to that is the documented presence of crumbling ruins on the sea floor that could have been made by a more civilised ancestor civilisation which most certainly would have matched the land dwellers in intelligence. Olden tales amongst the sun realms tells about how the Wharen from the north once marched even this far south and fought against many a great peoples and drove them all into the dust before reigning as tyrants or despots before their homelands were driven to the flame and torch up north and the species died out. This have caused some people to suggest a third theory that the mermaids once were intelligent creatures but had been cursed into being a degenerative mockery of a once grand people, however yet have this neither been confirmed and to date have no sure connection been made between the sunken ruins and the mermaids.
Fish
Fish is one of the groups of animals that makes up the cornerstone of the ecology of Vattnafalten and are without a shadow of a doubt the most diverse group of creatures, holding niches ranging from small herbivores in the massive schools of fish that feed the mid range predatory animals but also larger predators in their own right that are the prey of the largest apex predators in the region. Their diet can consist of everything from small herbivores that feed on sea grass right up to the largest predatory fishes and sharks that feed on other fish but some of them are even documented to feed on larger sea lizards and some of the more extreme examples like the dire rainbow reef hunter is well documented to even be able to prey on smaller species of serpent whales and the larger predatory fishes are well documented to be able to turn manhunter would unsuspecting people come too close.
Other fishes have been known to develop a dazzling array of defence mechanisms to fend of the predatory reptiles that also call the waters their home and they can be found in every biome from the impressive coral reefs, the dense kelp forests, the open sand patches, the widespread seagrass meadows and even the open seas that one can find to the north, south, and west of the vattnafalten.
Arthropods
Arthropods are a huge part of the native echo system and one can find numerous crabs, lobesters, shrimps, sea scorpions, horseshoe crabs, living here. Both in the sea but especially crabs and some kinds of lobsters live both amphibious and entirely terrestrial lives giving birth to several species of land crabs and land lobsters.
Crustaceans
Especially of note of the crustaceans are the dire crabs that are huge hulking beasts almost the size of a man that prowl the ocean floor, they are well noted as scavengers and almost their entire diet consist of them eating dead bodies. Their large claws are quite dangerous and their hardened armour makes them very resilient of attacks from all but the largest serpent whales. Their only natural predator is men, mermaids, some of the larger serpent whales, and of course the dreaded kingly walrus that hunts them by dragging them up on land and crushing them with their bulk.
Giant isopods are also known but they are confirmed to two species, faltagrasugga and platsugga, both filling the role of scavenger species. The Faltgrasugga is the less derived species from it's deep ocean relatives and makes it's home in the flush seagrass fields. However the Platsugga is a more derived species, that has developed into a very flat shape akin to flounders. They make their home in the open sandbank desserts that while uncommon still covers large stretches of territory in Vattnafalten. Here do they spend most of their time burried and only emerges when they can smell dead animals in the water. However this relative open ocean habitat is often very dangerous as they are easy prey when exposed like that.
Besides this can one also find numerous kinds of shrimp, lobsters, and crawdaddies that make their homes in most of the biomes.
Chelicerata
Horseshoe crabs is a common sight as they make their home in almost every biome of the sea often relying on the protection of their shells as they hunt various sea slugs and smaller crustaceans but are in their own turn hunted by several species of fish and almost all walruses.
Sea scorpions are also a common sight serving as ambush predators, either as large scale macro predators that can bring down mid sized sea lizards and serpent whales to smaller predators that focuses mostly on fish. These beasts are mostly only hunted by the walruses that uses their thick mustaches to keep their faces safe from retaliatory strikes or their long tusks to skewer them prior to eating them. However the larger versions are safe from this treatment. They are found in all biomes in vattnafalten and specialised variants exists in the shallow sandbanks, the lush sea grass meadows, and even the dark and murky Korshifi forests. However the forest living species tends to be smaller. Compared to normal land scorpions are these species almost universally known for their saw like forelimbs and more spearlike tails.
